


Arthur's shirt

by LottaCharlene



Series: Clothes make the man [2]
Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 04:47:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottaCharlene/pseuds/LottaCharlene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seeing Arthur in something casual is a surprise, but the surprises don't end here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arthur's shirt

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta neafaroo! I really am glad you're doing this!

The next time Ariadne sees any of her former colleagues again it is over one year after her discovery in Sydney.

 

The day, she had seen Eames walking around in a shirt that told everybody that he was the _Property of Arthur_. The shirt was further emphasized by the fact that he had even been holding hands with said man;  Ariadne was still shocked to discover that Arthur seemed quite content to do such a thing in public.

 

She had mused over this discovery for a while after, and had wondered if anybody else knew. She dismissed asking anyone about what she had witnessed, assuming that their relationship would be a short-time thing anyway, considering Eames and his flirtatious attitude. There was no need to frighten anyone.

 

This time however, they are not gathering for another job, but rather a reunion party of sorts at Cobb’s house. Phillipa is old enough to be in school, but it is summer now and the children are at home. The only unfortunate side to the day of the gather is that it is raining despite the warm temperatures.

 

Ariadne has not seen Cobb’s kids for some time, but they take her heart by storm again. She is instantly drawn into racing James with his toy cars, and having tea time with Princess Phillipa and her court of stuffed animals, attempting somewhat successfully to perform both actions simultaneously. Cobb just laughs and shakes his head at his children’s antics. He looks a bit older, but also happier and more relaxed than Ariadne has ever seen him before. The ghosts of the past are finally fading.

 

“It’s good to see you again, Cobb.” Ariadne admits, when the children are both momentarily distracted.

 

Cobb smiles and asks, “How is the job going?”

 

Ariadne knows he is referring to dreamsharing, but doesn’t mention it for the kids’ sake. “Still absolutely breathtaking!”

 

Cobb nods understandingly when the doorbell rings.

 

Ariadne is playing with one of James’ cars, while Phillipa watches over them with her stuffed bunny, when Eames walks into the room. The kids squeal delighted and abandon their play immediately, but Ariadne can only stare.

 

Eames is wearing what’s becoming his usual, jeans and a t-shirt again, but instead of a ridiculous slogan like “Let me through, I’m a doctor” it is a simple, plain white shirt. But what Ariadne startles more than the lack of the usual lewdness, is how completely un-Eames-like he looks. He has the same sparkling blue-grey eyes, the same mischievous grin, the same crooked teeth. But as for the rest…

 

Eames is a bit thinner, still muscular (the tight t-shirt doesn’t leave much space for imagination), but not that walking bulk anymore. His hair is shorter and a ruffled mess; his three-day-stubble has grown into a beard. And, to Ariadne’s surprise, he’s wearing jewellery:nothing spectacular, but a necklace with a coin hanging from it, several bracelets (two made of leather mixed with some you get at festivals, although Ariadne can’t picture Eames camping in the dirt for three days like some teenager despite any immature behaviour he has ever displayed), and a board steel ring. This is all so unlike Eames that Ariadne wonders briefly, if Eames has a twin, a very hot twin, that’s come to take his place.

 

Eames picks James up and smiles fondly, as the boy plays with his beard.

 

“That tickles, Uncle Eames!” James giggles.

 

Phillipa tries to get his attention by pulling at his leg.

 

“Hey, you two! Let him live!” Cobb laughs and pulls James from Eames’ arms. “You look good.”

 

Eames grins and pets Phillipas’ hair. “Yeah, I feel pretty amazing myself.”

 

“Finally won at the casino?” Cobb teased with a smirk.

 

“No, finally going to get married.”

 

“What?” Ariadne tries to hide her surprised shout behind her hand, but it is too late.

 

Eames feigns a hurt expression. “Why is everyone always so shocked? Even my Mum wouldn’t believe it. Do I look that ugly?”

 

Ariadne comes over to punch him in the arm and hug him straight afterwards. “Hello and congrats,” she says and means it.

 

“Thanks, poppet. Nice to see you, too.”

 

Ariadne thinks that Eames’ smile in response has never been more genuine.

 

Cobb still looks disbelieving. “You never struck me as the type who gets married, Eames.”

 

Eames shrugs and walks over to the couch, where he slumps down unceremoniously. “Life is too short to wait. You never know, when you might end up in Limbo.”

 

There is an awkward silence after that, but Phillipa is thankfully absolutely oblivious, as she crawls on the couch to sit next to Eames and bombards him with questions that break the tension.

 

“Will you get married in a castle with lots of flowers and white doves? Will there be a carriage with white horses? Will the cook make so many meals that you burst if you eat just one thing too much? Who is your bride? Is she pretty? Will she wear a pink dress?”

 

Eames laughs and ruffles her hair. “I don’t think so, but we can do this at _your_ wedding, love.”

 

“No pink dress?” Phillipa asks critically.

 

“I don’t think he’ll approve.”

 

Phillipa gets big eyes and _oh_ s, and then she dashes off followed by her brother.

 

Ariadne slumps down in her spot and looks curiously at Eames. “Are you going to tell us, who the lucky man is?”

 

Eames smirks. “That won’t be necessary. He’ll be here in”, he looks at his watch, “two to three minutes anyway.”

 

The picture of Arthur and Eames holding hands in Sydney flashes through Ariadne’s mind, but that would be unrealistic. Never in life would precise Arthur be marrying the rather lackadaisical ‘Mr. Eames.’ Being with Eames for a while? Ariadne can accept that, because everyone needs a bit of fun every now and then, But marrying _Eames?!_ No way.

 

The doorbell goes again and Cobb emerges from the kitchen, where he has retreated after the mention of Limbo, still a sore subject after his own misadventure there and then the near failure of the Fischer job. A few seconds later, Yusuf walks into the living room.

 

“Yusuf?” Ariadne practically cries out in shock, “You’re going to marry _Yusuf_?”

 

Yusuf’s face is comically horrified. “What?”

 

“What?” Cobb echoes, in disbelief.

 

“What?! No, guys! Seriously!?!” Eames groans and points an accusing finger at Yusuf. “Dude, couldn’t you have come ten minutes earlier or something?”

 

“Me?! _You_ are the one telling people we’re getting married!”

 

“Guys!” Ariadne tries to interfere, but the doorbell rings again.

 

Cobb throws his hands up in defeat, muttering something that sounds like “worse than kindergarten” under his breath and goes to answer the door.

 

“Eames, stop telling stories, man!” Yusuf says. “I’m still trying to get a girlfriend!”

 

Eames sighs, “Stop fretting. I wouldn’t get married to you in a thousand years.”

 

“Good.” Yusuf looks honestly relieved. “You’re really getting married? Oh and by the way, Hi, Ari.”

 

Ariadne grins and waves. As is typical, from what Ari has observed, everything has turned into utter chaos the minute Eames has arrived.

 

Before Eames can respond to Yusuf’s question, Cobb comes back with Arthur in the tow, who manages to look tired and relaxed at the same time. He has a big travel bag slung over his shoulder, where the code sticker from some airport is still taped around the strap.

 

Ariadne has never seen Arthur so casual, wearing a thin dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up and the first buttons undone, and a pair of jeans. She has never seen him so tan either.

 

“Hi!” He greets everyone with an easy smile, but frowns as his eyes land on Eames. “What the hell happened to you?”

 

Eames gives Arthur a boyish grin. “How was Honolulu, darling?”

 

“Nice. We incepted the pope and made him believe in Buddha and gay marriage.” Arthur says, cracking a joke without batting an eyelash, and focusing his gaze on Eames’ shoes. Suddenly, they are the centre of attention as everyone tries to figure out, what could be possibly wrong with them. Ariadne thinks, they are pretty hipster and nothing she would have expected Eames to wear, but they look quite good on him. Arthur, however, seems genuinely bewildered and that just confirms Ariadne’s theory of Eames NOT getting married to Arthur.

 

Arthur suddenly snaps his attention back to Cobb. “Can I get a shower? I came straight here from my flight.”

 

After a loud greeting from Cobb’s kids, after they have been found from where they had wandered off to, Arthur finally enjoys a shower upstairs, while everyone else is in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

 

As Yusuf chops bell pepper into precise squares he asks, “So, will you finally enlighten us, who are you going to marry instead of me?”

 

Phillipa, who is standing on a stool and stiring the sauce with a highly concentrated face, turns around and says, as if it isn’t crystal clear, “Uncle Arthur, of course!”

 

Yusuf nearly cuts his finger, Ariadne spills the dressing she is making and Cobb grabs the hot pot without a glove. Simultaneous shouts fill the room:

 

“What?!”

“Shit!”

“Ouch!”

 

“Are you ok, Daddy?” Phillipa watches her Dad holding his hand under cold water for a few seconds, before she says to Eames in an earnest tone, “You know, Uncle Arthur really would look weird in a pink dress!”

 

“I think so too!” Comes Arthur’s voice from the door where he’s suddenly appeared.

 

Yusuf swirls around and flings a bell pepper seed, as he points the knife at him. “You tell me, this isn’t true!”

 

“What, the pink dress?”

 

“Why is everyone always so scandalized, when I say we’re going to get married, darling?” Laments Eames.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe because people tend to correctly assume they cannot believe your every word, Mr Eames.” Arthur grins.

 

“Arthur!” Cobb barks in a sharp voice that makes Ariadne jump slightly.

 

She still tries to figure out the exact moment, when everyone will burst into laughter, because this is a joke, right? It just has to be …

 

Arthur’s expression is calm as he looks at Cobb, but Ariadne can see the annoyance glistening in his eyes. “Yes, Eames and I, we’re engaged. You always told me I should get a life besides work. Well, this is it. Do you have a problem with that?”

 

“No, but Eames is –“ Cobb starts and looks as though he wants to start a serious debate about all the negative attributes that he links with the forger.

 

“He is _what_ , Dom? A bad choice, because he’s a gambler a thief, and a con-man? He’s untrustworthy and he’ll sell my head for the right price straight away? I trust this man to have my back _anytime_ , because he has never let me down. Not once! He has always been there for me, when _I_ have had a bad day, when _I_ haveneeded a shoulder to lean on or just someone, who is willing to listen to _my_ problems. He’s a brilliant man and I love him and I will be there for him until my dying day!”

 

“Arthur, this isn’t something you should rush, just because –“

 

“Thank you for being such a faithful friend, Dom! Being happy for me is obviously too much to ask for.” With that, he turns around and leaves the kitchen in a heavy silence.

 

“Well, nice work.” Eames says in a dry tone and follows Arthur.

 

Ariadne looks at Yusuf with big eyes. He lets out the air he has been holding for the last minute.

 

“Well, that was unexpected.” he murmurs.

 

“Are they going to break up now?” Phillipa wants to know, fearful because of all the yelling.

 

“No, honey.” Cobb soothes her, but he doesn’t move to go after Arthur and apologize.

 

Ariadne huffs, because men are all the same, at least when it comes to things like emotions and admissions of their own mistakes. It is still a surprise for her that Arthur is dead serious about the topic, but Eames has obviously earned the point man’s trust and that alone is a thing only hear of in lore. She also knows that if Eames should ever mess things up with Arthur, he is a dead man, and she is pretty sure Eames knows this as well.

 

Ariadne pushes the bowl with the dressing away and walks out of the kitchen. She finds the two of them on the porch.

 

Arthur has his arms crossed loosely, and he is unresponsive to Eames, who has tucked his fingers into Arthur’s belt loops and is trying to pull the man to him.

 

“I’m so sick and tired of all this criticism and scepticism. It is as though no one thinks we’re able to make a responsible decision! And Dom! He is like an older brother to me; we’ve been through all this mess with Mal and he still doesn’t trust me? Can’t he just accept my choice and believe me that I know exactly what I’m doing? Is it really so hard to accept _us_?”

 

“Arthur, darling,” Eames says patiently and turns him softly around so that Arthur finally faces Eames. “I think, he cares a lot about you and that’s why he is so concerned that you might get hurt. He wants to protect you and this is his way of showing it.”

 

Arthur allows Eames to pull him closer and Eames instantly slides a possessive arm around Arthur’s waist.

 

“I know, but it hurts that no one thinks you are a respectable partner for me, because you are.”

 

Eames strokes gently over Arthur’s cheek. “Have I ever told you, what a happy man I am?”

 

“You might have mentioned it once or twice.” Arthur smiles. “So, why the new look?”

 

Eames shrugs, but he looks shy. “Surprise for you. Don’t you approve?”

 

“It definitely was a surprise. But an appealing one.”

 

Eames hums delighted. “You know what I love the most about this whole engagement? That I can do _this_ whenever I want and no one can say a thing.”

 

He leans in and captures Arthur’s lips with practiced ease.

 

Ariadne, who has stood by the door the whole time, waiting for a window of opportunity to interrupt them, decides that this is it and clears her throat politely, before the kiss can get more than just chaste.

 

They turn around, a bit surprised, but not mad at her.

 

“I, erm, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry for not taking you guys seriously. It’s just that you never seemed to have a soft spot for each other and Eames … ah, never mind! I wish you both the best of luck for your future! And I expect to be bridesmaid!” She laughs awkwardly at the end.

 

They both grin widely at her and pull her into a tight hug. Eames whispers very loudly, “You’re going to be the next, poppet!”

 

Ariadne kicks him at the shin and walks grinning back into the kitchen to kick Yusuf and Cobb in their arses, so they will stop being so goddamn weird about the whole thing.

 

When it is time for dinner, everyone has wished Arthur and Eames the best of luck and although Cobb still pouts a bit, because he hasn’t known any earlier than the rest of the team, the mood is cheerful. Especially Phillipa, so it is only a question of time until she knocks the dressing bowl over Arthur’s shirt. She really is worried, no matter how often her Dad assures her that everything is fine, because nothing serious has happened. But only Arthur can eventually cheer her up again, as he comes back to the table in a grey t-shirt with a black pattern in heart shape and the words _Property of Mr Eames_ in violet over his chest.

 

Ariadne grins into her salad. “I guess this is your creation, Eames?”

 

Eames grins back. “What makes you think that?”

 

“I remember,” says Yusuf chuckling, “when my aunt got married, someone had cut a heart-shaped hole into the dress, right over the belly! It was such a disastrous wedding, nothing happened, as it should. And then there was a lost bird in the church and it was so scared, it shit everywhere!”

 

The kids and Ariadne giggle, Cobb looks disapproving, Eames steals a quick kiss from Arthur, and Yusuf holds forth telling the whole story of his aunt’s wedding. In the end everyone gives Arthur and Eames stupid wedding advices and Ariadne thinks that Arthur’s eyes must hurt by how often he has rolled them in the last hour.

 

As the kids are in bed, they open a bottle of wine, soon followed by another. Ariadne can’t stop staring at the matching steel rings Arthur and Eames are wearing.

 

“Who proposed?” she blurts out.

“Me.” Eames says smiling proudly, while holding Arthur possessively around the waist.

 

“I wanna hear that story!” Proclaims Yusuf, who leans forward on his elbows, looking far too curious.

 

“It was overly unromantic!” Arthur waves off.

 

“Hey!” Eames protests, but Arthur overrides him.

 

“I was in the shower! And suddenly someone was writing obscene messages on the fogged glass wall!”

 

“Obscene?!? Arthur, I was paying you compliments!”

 

Arthur gives the others a pointed look. “I’ll spare you the details.”

 

“Yes, please,” Cobb mumbles, but Yusuf and Ariadne look eager to know the rest of the story.

 

“Well,” Arthur continues and his look gets soft. “Then, after I complained about the huge portrait of a cock, he wiped the glass clean, got a permanent marker – I have no idea from where – and wrote:

_ How much I love you  
_ _yesterday < today < tomorrow_

_merry me?_ _:)_

I think the cleaning lady is still trying to get rid of it!”

 

Eames laughs. “You should have seen his confused look!”

 

“You wrote _marry_ with an ‘e’!” Arthur argues good-naturedly. “Of course I was confused!”

 

Ariadne chuckles. “What’s with the equation, Eames?”

 

Eames doesn’t look at her, but in Arthur’s eyes as he explains, “I love you more today than I did yesterday, but still less than I will love you tomorrow.”

 

“That’s it? That’s how you proposed?” Yusuf asks disbelieving.

 

“Pretty much,” Eames hums, but he is not paying much attention anymore.

 

“And you said _yes_ to that?! Arthur, I really had expected more from you!” Yusuf rants on. “At least an unspeakably expensive hotel suite with a bed of roses and champagne and moon-“

 

Yusuf stops mid-word, because neither Arthur nor Eames really listening anymore. They are so lost into each other that Ariadne blushes.

 

Yusuf hides behind his hands and groans, “Guys, please.”

 

But that doesn’t keep Eames from kissing Arthur like it is the last thing he will ever do in his life.

 

Cobb suddenly gets up. “Ok, I think you two should go to bed!”

 

This has finally Eames’ attention and he smirks devilish.

 

Cobb, who notices his bad choice of words immediately, tries to revise his words, but it is hopeless. “You’re not going to have sex in my house!”

 

“Tell that to Mr Gorgeous here”, Eames smirks.

 

“Arthur, please!”

 

“I’m sorry, Dom. Eames dressed this nicely just for me; I can’t let his attempt to turn me on go to waste. Besides, we haven’t seen each other for two months!” Arthur gives Cobb a sly wink, before he pulls Eames with him upstairs.

 

Yusuf groans something like “pictures in my head” and Ariadne can barely contain her snickering at Cobb’s horror-stricken face.

 

“At least be quiet!” Cobb shouts after them. “I don’t want my kids to be traumatized for life!”

 

After they walk out he slumps onto the couch and sighs heavily.

 

“They’ll be a nice married couple,” Ariadne grins and pats Cobb sympathetically on the back.

 

“No.” Cobb laughs suddenly. “They’re the best high-profiled criminals I know, and now, with this kind of bond, they’re going to be bloody dangerous!”

 


End file.
